Retirees Protest In Front Of UNAMA Office In Kabul Against Non-Payment Of Salaries

This comes as the World Health Organisation (WHO) statistics show that 22 cases of the disease have been recorded in Afghanistan as of September this year.

This contradiction has raised concerns about the Taliban's secrecy in providing real statistics on diseases.

Medical experts allege that the lack of accurate reporting of polio cases causes preventive measures and targeted vaccinations to not be carried out properly. This can lead to further spread of the disease and more children to develop paralysis.

According to these experts, secrecy and the dissemination of false information reduce public trust in the healthcare system. They say that people may lose trust in vaccination and health advice, which in turn will lead to bigger health problems.

About a month and a half after the Taliban's decision to suspend the polio vaccination campaign in Afghanistan, the group's Ministry of Public Health announced the resumption of the campaign in several provinces.

Sharafat Zaman Amarkhil, a spokesperson for the ministry, claimed that no positive cases of polio have been reported in Afghanistan this year.

However, statistics published by the World Health Organisation (WHO) this year show that 22 cases of polio have been recorded in Afghanistan from the beginning of the year to September.

According to the statistics, between August 22 and August 30, three cases of polio were reported in Kandahar and Helmand provinces.
Meanwhile, in Pakistan, the only other country besides Afghanistan which is fighting the eradication of polio, the number of cases has reached more than 40.

Earlier, the Taliban had suspended the polio vaccination campaign in Afghanistan in September this year.

Sharafat Zaman Amarkhil, the spokesman for the Taliban's Ministry of Public Health, announced the start of the polio campaign in a video on Monday, October 28, but did not specify in which provinces the campaign will be implemented.

The three-day campaign is expected to vaccinate more than six million children under the age of five.

The spokesperson of the ministry called on scholars and people to cooperate with the vaccination programme staff to eradicate polio.

According to official reports, six positive cases of polio were recorded last year and 22 cases of polio were recorded in Afghanistan this year.

A spokesman for the Taliban's Ministry of Public Health, however, claimed that no positive cases of polio had been reported in Afghanistan this year.

Afghanistan and Pakistan have so far failed to eradicate polio. Despite the continuing challenge, the Taliban had recently suspended the polio vaccination campaign in Afghanistan.

Oybek Usmanov, 62, previously served as Uzbekistan's ambassador to Egypt and Pakistan.

According to Uzbekistan news agencies, the Uzbek diplomat arrived in Kabul on Sunday, October 27.

Osmanov's biography states that he was the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan from 2011 to 2012.

The former ambassador of Uzbekistan to Afghanistan was Yadgar Khwaja Shadmanov, who announced the end of his mission in Afghanistan in September this year after 12 years.

Although Uzbekistan does not recognise the Taliban government like other countries, it has established close relations with the group.

Taliban and Uzbekistan officials have welcomed each other many times during the three years of the Taliban's rule.

According to the report, Taliban's Sunni mullahs teach Sunni religious books to children in the predominantly Shia Ismaili district of Shighnan.

Rukhshana Media reported on Monday (October 28), citing its sources, that the Taliban's action is "an attempt to forcibly convert the residents of this district", who are Shia Ismaili.

In October this year, the Taliban's education department in Badakhshan announced the establishment of a madrassa called "Imam Hussain" in the centre of Shighnan district.

Rukhshana media reported that more than 200 male children from the Ismaili sect of the district are studying in this school, and the teachers who were hired from schools outside the district were graduates of Taliban’s madrassas.

Rukhshana Media quoted their source as saying that none of the books taught in this school are common in the Ismaili sect.

Residents of the district said that in Shighnan, a religious school of the Ismaili sect already existed, which provided religious education based on the teachings of this Shia sect of Islam.

Residents of the district also said that the Taliban teach children about jihad, war and extremism in this madrassa.

The Taliban has paid special attention to the extensive establishment of jihadi schools after their return to power in Afghanistan. According to the Taliban government, the group has so far established more than 21,000 religious schools across Afghanistan. Taliban officials consider the establishment of jihadi madrassas important in maintaining the group's influence and power in Afghanistan.

Zhang Ming told Russia's Izvestia newspaper that the formation of an inclusive government is in the interest of Afghanistan.

In the interview, which was published on Monday, October 28, Zhang Ming said, "The issue of Afghanistan is very important from the perspective of ensuring peace, stability and security in the region.

"We would like Afghanistan to become a country free of terrorism, war and drugs, and we hope that in the future, a government will be formed in Afghanistan with the broad participation of representatives of all political, ethnic and religious groups," he added.

According to him, these cases will be in the interest of Afghanistan, the member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and the entire international community.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), which was formed in 2001 by Russia and China, consists of nine members, including Belarus, Iran, Pakistan, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

Afghanistan joined the SCO as an observer member on June 7, 2012, but the Taliban has not been invited to its meetings for the past three years.